Newport Beach, Calif. -
No. 7 Long Beach State fell behind early and was unable to climb out of the hole in a 14-7 loss against No. 2 USC in the SoCal Tournament on Saturday. Milos Vrzic led the 49ers with three goals against the Trojans.

USC (16-1) got the action started with a quick goal from Mace Rapsey, and took a 2-0 lead before Vrzic converted the first of three penalty goals to but the Trojan lead to 2-1. USC would score the next five goals, however, taking a 7-1 lead before Long Beach State (15-4) got another goal from Vrzic going into the half.

The Trojans held the 49ers off of the board in the third quarter, and opened up an 11-2 lead. That increased to 12-2 with an early goal in the fourth period, but Long Beach State mounted a late rally. Joey Fabian scored 6-on-5 to start off a streak for the 49ers, as Dimitiros Lappas followed with another goal and Ricardo Guimares finished off a breakaway after collecting a steal to make the score 12-5. The two teams traded a pair of late goals leading to the 14-7 final.

The 49ers won their earlier match in the day against No. 10 Loyola Marymount 10-7, and will play either No. 6 UC Santa Barbara or No. 3 Pacific at 8 a.m. tomorrow at UC Irvine in the first of two matches Sunday.